1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for treating oil spills to both recover the oil and to process an area of oil contaminated water.
2. The Prior Art
The treatment of oil spills and, in particular, the recovery of oil spilled into open water areas has become an increasing source of concern. Heretofore there has been extensive use of shallow water skimming to help clean up after spills in lakes, streams, and rivers. It has been noticed by the inventor, while working on these inland spill sites, that the existing skimmers are not very effective in picking up the oil unless the oil is already contained inside of booms. Also these skimmers are fairly expensive to operate for short time periods.
An example of an ocean skimmer may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.